Men's freestyle wrestling competition began in the Olympics in 1904. FILA began holding World Championships in men's freestyle in 1951. During Olympic years, FILA suspends the World Championships.
Tsarist Russia did not send freestyle wrestlers to the Olympics for the country authorities didn't recognize the sport back then (only Greco-Roman or French wrestling as it was known then was widely practised and contested in the Russian Empire.) The Soviet Union began competing in freestyle wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics. The Soviet Union boycotted the Olympics in 1984. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most former Soviet republics competed as a single Unified Team in 1992, and competed separately thereafter.
| Year | Team Finish | 47.6 kg | 52.2 kg | 56.7 kg | 61.2 kg | 65.8 kg | 71.7 kg | 71.7+ kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||||
| Year | Team Finish | 54 kg | 60.3 kg | 66.6 kg | 73 kg | 73+ kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||
| Year | Team Finish | 60 kg | 67.5 kg | 75 kg | 82.5 kg | 82.5+ kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||
| Year | Team Finish | 56 kg | 61 kg | 66 kg | 72 kg | 79 kg | 87 kg | 87+ kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||||
| 1928 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||||
| 1932 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||||
| 1936 | DNC | Team did not compete | ||||||
| Year | Team Finish | 57 kg | 61 kg | 65 kg | 70 kg | 74 kg | 86 kg | 97 kg | 125 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1st | Lebedev, Viktor (9th) | Bogomoev, Aleksandr (9th) | Ramonov, Soslan (1st) | Tsabolov, Khetag (1st) | Tsargush, Denis (1st) | Sadulaev, Abdulrashid (1st) | Gadisov, Abdusalam (1st) | Gatsalov, Khadjimourat (3rd) |
| 2015 | 1st | Lebedev, Viktor (3rd) | Bogomoev, Aleksandr (11th) | Ramonov, Soslan (3rd) | Gazimagomedov, Magomedrasul (1st) | Geduev, Aniuar (3rd) | Sadulaev, Abdulrashid (1st) | Gadisov, Abdusalam (2nd) | Makhov, Bilyal (3rd) |
| 2016 | 1st | Lebedev, Viktor (9th) | Chakaev, Akhmed (3rd) | Ramonov, Soslan (1st) | Kurbanaliev, Magomed (1st) | Geduev, Aniuar (2nd) | Sadulaev, Abdulrashid (1st) | Boltukaev, Anzor (11th) | Makhov, Bilyal (13th) |
| 2017 | 2nd | Uguev, Zaur (23rd) | Rashidov, Gadzhimurad (2nd) | Gogayev, Alan (3rd) | Kadimagomedov, Magomedkhabib (7th) | Tsabolov, Khetag (2nd) | Valiev, Vladislav (3rd) | Sadulaev, Abdulrashid (2nd) | Khizriev, Anzor (5th) |
| Year | Team Finish | 57 kg | 61 kg | 65 kg | 70 kg | 74 kg | 79 kg | 86 kg | 92 kg | 97 kg | 125 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1st | Uguev, Zaur (1st) | Rashidov, Gadzhimurad (2nd) | Chakaev, Akhmed (3rd) | Gazimagomedov, Magomedrasul (1st) | Sidakov, Zaurbek (1st) | Gadzhimagomedov, Akhmed (3rd) | Kurugliev, Dauren (5th) | Tsakulov, Batyrbek (7th) | Sadulaev, Abdulrashid (1st) | Khizriev, Anzor (5th) |
| 2019 | 1st | Uguev, Zaur (1st) | Idrisov, Magomedrasul (2nd) | Rashidov, Gadzhimurad (1st) | Baev, David (1st) | Sidakov, Zaurbek (1st) | Nabiev, Gadzhi (3rd) | Naifonov, Artur (3rd) | Zhabrailov, Alikhan (3rd) | Sadulaev, Abdulrashid (1st) | Khugaev, Alan (11th) |
| Category | 60 kg and below | 61–70 kg | 71–87 kg | more than 87 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total weight classes contested at international championships | 153 | 130 | 144 | 139 |
| Weights in which URS/RUS medaled | 86 | 69 | 82 | 117 |
| Weights in which URS/RUS won championships | 37 | 36 | 45 | 84 |
| Percentage of medals won by URS/RUS | 56.2 | 53.1 | 56.9 | 84.2 |
| Percentage of championship titles won by URS/RUS | 24.2 | 27.7 | 31.3 | 60.4 |
| Category | 1904–1936 | 1948–1968 | 1969–1996 | 1997–2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total weight classes contested at international championships | 45 | 128 | 280 | 103 |
| Weight classes in which URS/RUS medaled | N/A | 73 | 213 | 68 |
| Weight classes in which URS/RUS won championships | N/A | 31 | 127 | 44 |
| Percentage of medals won by URS/RUS | N/A | 57.0 | 76.1 | 66.0 |
| Percentage of championship titles won by URS/RUS | N/A | 24.2 | 45.4 | 42.7 |
| Category | 1904–1936 | 1948–1968 | 1969–1996 | 1997–2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight classes known to be contested by URS/RUS wrestlers | N/A | 103 | 255 | 103 |
| Number of known URS/RUS wrestlers | N/A | 42 | 106 | 46 |
| Average number of international championship appearances per wrestler | N/A | 2.45 | 2.41 | 2.24 |
| Medalists' average number of international championship appearances until first medal | N/A | 1.10 | 1.08 | 1.20 |
| Champions' average number of international championship appearances until first title | N/A | 1.50 | 1.58 | 1.55 |
| Average number of medals ultimately won by URS/RUS medalists | N/A | 2.43 | 2.42 | 2.27 |
| Average number of championships ultimately won by URS/RUS champions | N/A | 2.21 | 2.44 | 2.20 |
Greco-Roman, Graeco-Roman, classic wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1904. This style of wrestling forbids holds below the waist, which is the main feature that differentiates it from freestyle wrestling. This restriction results in an emphasis on throws, because a wrestler cannot use trips to bring an opponent to the ground or hook/grab the opponent's leg to avoid being thrown.
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Medved is a Ukrainian-born Soviet Belarusian retired freestyle wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union and was named "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" by FILA, the sport's governing body. Between 1962 and 1972 he won three Olympic gold medals, seven world and three European titles. He served as the Olympic flag bearer for the Soviet Union in 1972, for Belarus in 2004 and recited the Judge's Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. USA high school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling are conducted under different rules and termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. USA collegiate women's wrestling is conducted under freestyle rules.
Khadzhimurat Soltanovich Gatsalov is a Russian-Armenian world champion wrestler.
Soslan Petrovich Andiyev was a Soviet heavyweight freestyle wrestler. He was an Olympic champion in 1976 and 1980, world champion in 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1978, European champion in 1974, 1975 and 1982, and Soviet champion in 1973–78 and 1980. He won the World Cup in 1976 and 1981, but missed the 1984 Olympics due to their boycott by the Soviet Union and retired the same year. After that he first worked as a national wrestling coach, but in 1989 returned to his native Ossetia to become a sports functionary. In 1990–98, he served as vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee. In 2006 he was inducted into the FILA Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Levan Tediashvili is a former Soviet (Georgian) wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling in 1972 and 1976. He remained undefeated between 1971 and 1976. Besides freestyle wrestling, he was also a Soviet and world champion in sambo.
Michael Najeeb Zadick is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler. He competed in the Men's freestyle 60 kg division at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He lost in the 1/8 finals to Vasyl Fedoryshyn.
William Michael Zadick is an American amateur wrestler. He won an NCAA college wrestling championship while competing with the University of Iowa and the 2006 World Wrestling Championships in freestyle wrestling.
Wrestlers from the United States have taken part in most of the major men's freestyle wrestling competitions over the years, in particular the Olympic Games and World Wrestling Championships. Men's freestyle wrestling competition at the Olympics was first held in 1904. FILA began holding World Championships in men's freestyle in 1951.
Mnatsakan Iskandaryan is a former Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union and Russia. Iskandaryan is an Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, and two-time European Champion. He earned the rank Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1991 and was named Honoured Coach of Russia in 2000. In 2012, Iskandaryan was inducted into the FILA Hall of Fame as the sole Greco-Roman inductee. He's the second Armenian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, after Armen Nazaryan.
Spenser Mango is an American Greco-Roman wrestler. He has represented the United States in numerous international competitions including the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he competed in the 55 kg weight class. He won his first match against Romanian, Virgil Munteanu, before losing the South Korean, Park Eun-chul.
Wrestling World Cup is an international wrestling competition among teams representing member nations of the United World Wrestling (UWW) the sport's global governing body. The cups have been conducted by FILA every year since the 1973 tournament. The World Cup began as a dual-meet competition for the top teams on each continent, but now features the top teams in the rankings of the previous year's world championships.
Wrestling has deep historical roots in Armenia. Wrestling was practiced in the Armenian Highlands since ancient times. Armenians have their own variant of the sport called Kokh. It was recorded that King Tiridates III of Armenia won the Ancient Olympic Games in wrestling in 281 AD. During the Soviet era, wrestling became one of the most practiced sports in Armenia and remained popular after Armenia's independence in 1991. Armenian athletes have been successful at international competitions in the last two decades. Many have become World and European champions, both in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling. Over half of the fifteen Armenian Olympic medalists and the two gold medal winners have been wrestlers. The sport is overseen by the Wrestling Federation of Armenia.
Kyle Frederick Snyder is an American freestyle wrestler and graduated folkstyle wrestler who competes at 97 kilograms. He holds the distinctions of being the youngest Olympic Gold medalist and the youngest World Champion in American wrestling history.
Anzor Adamovich Boltukayev is a Russian freestyle wrestler of Chechen descent. He competes in the 96 kg division and won the bronze medal in the same division at the 2013 World Wrestling Championships defeated Aleksey Krupnyakov of Kyrgyzstan.
Alina Vyacheslavivna Berezhna is a Ukrainian freestyle wrestler. She is the 2013 World champion in women's freestyle 67 kg.
Ilana Kratysh is an Israeli freestyle wrestler.
